The LOMO LC-A is Conceived

So this is how it all started – General Igor Petrowitsch Kornitzky, right-hand man to the USSR Minister of Defense and Industry, slammed a little Japanese compact camera called the Cosina CX-1 onto the desk of his comrade, Michail Panfilowitsch Panfiloff. Panfiloff, who was the Director of the powerful LOMO Russian Arms and Optical factory, carefully examined the item, observing its sharp glass lens, extremely high light sensitivity and robust casing.

Realizing its potential, the two gentlemen gave orders to the LOMOPLC factory in St. Petersburg, Russia, to create an improved version of the Cosina CX-1 – and the first working sample of the LOMO LC-A was born!

1984

The LC-A goes into Mass Production

In 1984, the LOMO LC-A began mass-production, with 1200 people working on the camera. Starting at 1100 units per month for the Russian market, the camera’s popularity soon spread to then Communist countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Cuba.

1991

Discovery! The LC-A takes a trip to Vienna

While touring Prague, a group of young Viennese students stumbled upon the LOMO LC-A in a quirky, old-school camera shop, and started shooting from the hip. Upon returning to Vienna, they had their film rolls developed, resulting in strangely beautiful images. Soon the questions started coming from friends, family and strangers – they wanted their own LC-A cameras!

1992

The Official Birth of the Lomographic Society International

Interest in the mysterious Soviet jewel was rapidly growing and the Lomography founders resorted to carrying out daring backpack raids to Russia in order to satisfy the demand for more and more of these fantastic LOMO LC-A cameras.

It was in 1992 that the decision was finally made to found the Lomographic Society International (LSI). During the summer, the legendary “10 Golden Rules of Lomography” were written and later published in the “Wiener Zeitung” newspaper along with the revolutionary “Lomography Manifesto” on November 5th. Shortly after this, the Vienna City Council provided the LSI with an empty house on Breitegasse in the city’s 7th district, which would soon act as a base for all Lomographic operations! It was here that the very first Lomography exhibition was held. At the exhibition, 700 LOMO LC-As were sold and one of Lomography’s most defining features was born – the LomoWall!

1994

Lomography goes Online, an NYC vs Moscow Exhibition and the first Lomography Embassy

In 1994, Lomography invaded the world wide web by launching lomo.com. It was also in this year that a momentous Lomographic exhibition was simultaneously held in New York City and Moscow, with massive LomoWalls gracing each city, showcasing colorful Lomographs from the other. Soon, the first Lomography Embassy Store was established in Berlin.

1996

Securing the Future of the LOMO LC-A

With the LOMO LC-A’s popularity continuing to rise, the biggest challenge so far for Lomography arose – the Russian manufacturers of the camera decided to stop its production. But the Lomographic founders bravely scooted to the LOMO Optics factory in Russia and successfully convinced the factory honchos and then-Vice Mayor Vladimir Putin to continue with the LC-A production!

1997

The First Lomography World Congress is held in Madrid

Relaunching lomo.com as lomography.com, the new website introduced a product shop, community interaction, special projects, activities and services, plus the WorldArchive, which displayed a collection of amazing Lomographs from different places across the globe.

Also in 1997, the first Lomographic World Congress was held in Madrid and boasted a LomoWall of over 120 meters – it consisted of more than 35,000 analogue photos!

1998

The Actionsampler launches at Photokina

In 1998, we launched the 4-lensed Actionsampler at Photokina – the largest photography convention in the world. The strange-looking plastic camera takes four sequential images in one 35mm photograph and was an instant worldwide hit!

2000

The Supersampler is unveiled and new Website Community Functions are Launched

Designed, manufactured and patented by Lomography, the Supersampler was launched in 2000 and emerged as the “Queen of all Multilens Cameras.” The revolutionary camera takes four sequential images in one 35mm photograph.

Among the new community functions launched on lomography.com were LomoHomes — a space for the Lomography community to store all of their analogue photos and make their very own LomoWalls!

2001

The First Lomography Store Opens

The very first Lomography shop in the world opened in Vienna in 2001. The store featured walls decked with Lomographs (LomoWalls), a wide range of innovative products from all over the world and the full line-up of Lomographic items. It also hosted analogue workshops and other activities that catered to the flourishing Lomography community.

2002

The 10th Anniversary Lomography World Congress in Vienna

In 2002, Vienna hosted the 10th Anniversary Lomography World Congress which was a grand party and showcased beautiful Lomographic shots from across the globe.

2003

Lomography Fashion makes its Entrance

In 2003, we introduced the Sidekick TPE bag – designed to hold cameras, films and even a small laptop. This launch kick-started our line of fashion items which now includes T-shirts, tote bags, camera bags and accessories.

2004

The Lomography World Congress in China and the biggest LomoWall ever!

In 2004, we installed the biggest LomoWall to date during the Lomography World Congress in China. For one whole week, Beijing was bursting with shiny analogue photos and tons of exciting activities!

2005

The Fisheye Camera is Launched

2005 was the year we introduced a breakthrough in photography with the world’s first compact Fisheye camera. Yielding nearly 180-degrees of circular Fisheye distortion in a 35mm photograph, the Fisheye One offered the easiest and most convenient way to take Fisheye photos!

2006

The Legendary LC-A+ enters the Lomography World

In 2006, we introduced the LOMO LC-A+. The LC-A+ offers the same endearing qualities of the original LOMO LC-A – sharp contrast, deep saturation and the trademark vignetting – while also adding more exciting features such as a multiple-exposure switch and the option to use newly-developed LC-A+ accessories!

2007

The Diana+ Launches, a White Stripes Collaboration and the London World Congress

In 2007, the Diana+ was born. Whilst it looks like a faithful reproduction of the 1960s medium-format classic Diana camera, the Diana+ is no mere replica, it also has enhanced features to offer brand new and exciting creative options.

The year also saw the opening of Lomography Gallery Stores in Hong Kong, Paris and Seoul, the World Congress in London and our collaboration with the White Stripes on limited edition Jack Holga and Meg Diana+ cameras.

2008

The Lubitel+ Launches plus brand new Redscale and X-Pro Films

In 2008, we launched the Lubitel+ – this is our pimped-up version of the twin-lensed classic Lubitel camera. The Lubitel offers the capability to switch between 120 and 35mm film and aperture/shutter guides.

Two photographic techniques – cross processing and redscaling – were made easier with the introduction of the very first Lomography films – the Lomography X-Pro film and Lomography Redscale film.

2009

The Diana Mini Lands and the LOMO LC-A celebrates its 25th Anniversary

2009 was the year we launched everyone’s favorite miniature Queen, the Diana Mini. With a design modeled on her older sister, the Diana F+, the Mini shoots 35mm film and allows you to pick between shooting 36 square shots or 72 half-frame shots on a single film.

There was also more Diana-based news to come. The international exhibition, the Diana World Tour, set sail this year, with the aim of sharing the very best vignetted square-shots and great parties with Lomographers across the globe. Finally, we saw the Diana+ go instant with the launch of the Diana Instant Back+.

We celebrated the iconic LOMO LC-A+ camera that started it all, with the release of the LC-A+ 25th Anniversary and a South Korean-designed “No Nukes” limited editions!

The Lomography website was re-launched again, with brand-new features and an improved online experience for our expanding global community! We also launched localized versions of the website for Canada, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, China, the UK and Italy, as well as opening nine new gallery stores worldwide!

2010

"10 Prophecies for the Analogue Future" at Photokina, plus the Sprocket Rocket and Spinner 360° Launch

2010 will be remembered as the year Lomography ensured that the future would remain analogue once and for all! We took the Cologne Photokina by storm yet again, spreading analogue love and announcing our 10 Prophecies for the Analogue Future!

The revolutionary Spinner 360° was launched and was quickly awarded the European Consumers Choice Award! We then unleashed the time-travelling Sprocket Rocket in October, the first analogue camera dedicated entirely to sprockets!

We also set about ensuring that the future was on film by producing more of our own! We released a whole range of 120 and 35mm format films including special redscale and X-Pro films.

In celebration of the LOMO LC-A that started the Lomographic movement, two limited editions were created: the LC-A+ White & the LC-A+ Gold. Also in this year, 10 groups of film-fanatics from around the world teamed up to join the great LC-A Race – a race from the four corners of the globe back to Lomography headquarters in Vienna, armed only with a GPS, a notebook and an LC-A+ camera!

2011

The Lomography Times Square Exhibition and tons of New Releases

In 2011, the people of Hong Kong celebrated everything analogue with the incredible Lomography Times Square Exhibition. Over 100,000 people turned up to discover and explore an enormous LomoWorldMap made up of thousands of Lomographic pictures and a collection of four giant, interactive cameras including the Sprocket Rocket, Diana F+, Fisheye No.2 and a Lubitel 166+. It was at this exhibition that we announced the launch of the brand-new Hong Kong City Guide and a special edition White Sprocket Rocket to celebrate the event!

In May, we unleashed the world’s widest compact camera, the Lomo LC-Wide; the latest innovation in the LOMO legacy. Featuring a newly developed 17mm Minigon 1 Ultra-Wide-Angle lens, soon Lomographers were head-over-heels in love with our latest member of the LC-A family.

Following in June was the lovable La Sardina camera which featured a brand-new Lomographic flash, Fritz the Blitz. With a wide-angle lens and shooting easy-to-find 35mm film, the La Sardina attracted a whole bunch of newcomers to Lomographic fun.

In July, we spread the analogue love further with the launch of the limited edition LC-A+ Russia Day. We also made a big step in securing the future of film with the release of our brand-new Earl Grey and Lady Grey B&W films.

In November, we launched one of the most exciting innovations of the year – the world’s first Lomographic movie camera – the LomoKino – adding a whole new dimension to analogue photography.

2012

20 Years of Lomography, 110 Film Returns and a huge Analogue vs Digital Survey

2012 was a hugely exciting year for all things Lomography. We launched a whole host of exciting cameras and started a big celebration for our 20th anniversary.

To start with, we announced that Lomography was re-introducing 110 film to the world! This film format had been out of production since 2009 and it was a pleasure to bring it back in style with the launches of Orca B&W 110 film and Tiger CN 110. We then followed this up by producing our very first 110 format cameras, the Fisheye Baby 110 and Diana Baby 110 (you can find out more about them on our dedicated 110 photography site).

In September, we demonstrated our ever-inquisitive nature by producing a huge survey about how the worlds of analogue and digital are involved in Lomographers’ lives. The survey was answered by over 5000 people from 82 countries and produced some very interesting results. You can view the data as an infographic on our Analogue vs Digital site.

We left what many would say was the biggest and best news of the year until October. It was in this month that we announced the launch of the Belair X 6-12, the world’s first medium format 6×12 auto-exposure camera.

And if all this wasn’t quite enough, it also happened to be the year when we reached the ripe old age of 20! That’s right, Lomography started all the way back in 1992 – we celebrated our anniversary by taking a look back at some of our favorite memories on our 20th Anniversary Site.

2013

The New Petzval Lens is (Re)invented, plus the Konstruktor and LomoChrome Purple Film are Unveiled

2013 started with a big bang. By the end of January, we had already launched two products. Firstly, we began our first ever Kickstarter campaign with the Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner, which offers an easy way for you to digitize analogue photos.

Then, within only a few weeks, we unveiled LomoChrome Purple Film. Available in both 35mm and 120 formats, with this film you can transform green tones into bright purples; it gives a similar look to the legendary Kodak Aerochrome film and was a sure-fire hit with the entire Lomographic community.

Fast-forward to April and we celebrated the first ever Film Photography Day. Film enthusiasts from all over the world came together on April 12th to party, shoot, meet and generally celebrate film photography in all its forms.

In summer, we had two further launches to enjoy. First came the Konstruktor, the world’s first 35mm do-it-yourself SLR camera.

Then in July we had another Kickstarter campaign, this time to reinvent the legendary Petzval Lens. The Lomography New Petzval Lens gives the classic look of old Petzval lenses but allows you to now get this on modern day Canon EF and Nikon F cameras (and other cameras using adapter mounts). The Kickstarter campaign was a tremendous success and reached its funding goal in less than 24 hours.

As if that wasn’t enough new products for one year, in October the Experimental Lens Kit launched, which works with all Micro 4/3 digital cameras and gives photographers the opportunity to shoot real optical multiple exposures and color-splash photos with three different lenses.

2014

The Lomography Instant Family and Art Lens Family Expand! Plus brand new Film Launches

In the first half of 2014, three new instant cameras were launched. The LC-A+ Instant Camera and Belair X 6-12 Instant Camera turned the iconic LC-A+ and Belair X 6-12 into instant snap-shooters. Then in May came the Lomo’Instant, Lomography’s first dedicated instant camera and the world’s most creative instant camera! It was our 3rd consecutive successful Kickstarter campaign and made Lomography the first company to ever have 2 projects raise over $1 million in the Product Design category of Kickstarter.

During the year, we also launched the New Russar+ Lens (L36/M Mount), which expands the Lomography Art Lens family. The New Russar+ is a rebirth of the legendary 1958 Russar MR-2, which was the mother of all modern super wide-angle lenses. With the New Russar+, you can shoot sharp wide-angle photos bursting with wonderful character. It’s perfect for capturing landscapes, architectural shots, portraits and street photography.

In August, we celebrated a year since we first unveiled the New Petzval Lens by holding the first ever dedicated Petzval competition and displaying the best photos taken with the New Petzval in Lomography Gallery Stores around the world. To coincide with Film Photography Day earlier in the year, we also held two ‘Search For Analogue Stars’ competitions in order to find the very best photographers shooting film in the 21st century.

We also had a bunch of exciting film launches during the year. In July, we unveiled to the world Cine200 Tungsten Film; it’s a real cinematic film which has been specially altered to enable it to be used on 35mm photographic cameras. Having sold out in a matter of days, we were thrilled to be able to offer its follow-up, the 400 ISO Cine400 Tungsten Film, in October. And our film fun was not done yet. Later in October, LomoChrome Turquoise XR 100-400 Color Negative Film was launched. This film works similarly to LomoChrome Purple Film but offers brand new, crazy and fun color shifts to enjoy. It bathes your photos in lustrous tones – turning lighter colors into varying shades of blues from aqua to cobalt, transforming greens into deep emerald shades and changing a crystal clear sea into a golden hue.

2015

The All New Lomography Community Site

In 2015 so far, we are extremely excited to have launched the brand new Lomography Community Site! The site has been totally redesigned and is fully optimized for all screen sizes. We talked with thousands of Lomography community members about the most wished-for new features and improvements for the site. The new site allows you to browse over 12,000,000 photos, read over 50,000 magazine articles and connect with over 1 million talented Lomographers from the world!

2016

The World’s First Optic Lens Reinvented, an Instant Unlike Any Other and the TEN AND ONE Annual Lomography Photo Award

In April 2016, we launched a brand new addition to the ever-expanding Lomography Art Lens family. Inspired by the lens that gave the world practical photography, the Daguerreotype Achromat 2.9/64 Art Lens is perfect for shooting rich, atmospheric images with beautiful bokeh backgrounds. Our brand new Art Lens was successfully funded on Kickstarter in just four hours – we could not have asked for a better response!

Hugely inspired by the support for the Daguerreotype Achromat, August 2016 saw us return to Kickstarter to launch an instant camera unlike any other. Fully automatic, jam-packed with creative features and super easy to use, the Lomo’Instant Automat lets you take perfectly-exposed pictures in any and every lighting situation. Our brand new instant innovation was a huge success, and received excellent reviews from around the world.

We were super excited to take our two brand new inventions to Photokina, the world’s leading trade fair for photo and video. We had tons of fun at our booth holding a live instant competition, hosting exhibitions, chatting to visitors, and letting people try out the very latest Lomography products. We were thrilled that so many people came to see us and loved our products!

Competitions celebrating the great photography produced by our talented Community have always been at the heart of Lomography, and that’s why we decided to launch the TENANDONE Annual Lomography Photo Award. Lomographers are challenged to explore the fringes of photography, think outside the box, and enter their best shots into 11 different categories including “Urban Explorers” and “Breaking Boundaries”. The winners of each category then qualify for the TENANDONE Annual Lomography Photo Award. In 2016 we received tons of inspirational entries and we were delighted to award the winner over 20,000 EUR worth of prizes at the end of the year!

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